Background
Burke was born in Melbourne and educated at Presentation College, Windsor.
Burke was born in Melbourne and educated at Presentation College, Windsor.
She graduated from Monash University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in English Literature, and later from the University of Melbourne in 1994 with a Master of Commerce with Honours in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management.
Before entering politics, Burke worked as a trade union official and human resources manager. In this capacity, she worked for Victoria Roads from 1988 to 1993 and for Victoria University (then the Victorian Institute of Technology) from 1993 to 1994. In 1994, she joined the Finance Sector Union as their National Industrial Officer.
Early years
She had joined the Ashwood branch of the Labor Party in 1986, and in 1997 she was pre-selected for the Division of Chisholm by the Labor Party.
The division was then held by Liberal Minister for Health and Family Services Michael Wooldridge. Role as Deputy Speaker and Speaker
On 24 November 2011, she was nominated by the Opposition for the position of Speaker of the House, which she declined.
However, she accepted the Government"s nomination for the position of Deputy Speaker on the same day, and was elected to that position following a ballot. On 22 April 2012 the Speaker, Peter Slipper, announced he was standing aside, meaning he would remain Speaker but would not attend sessions of the House, until fraud allegations made against him with respect to travel expenses were resolved.
The Opposition called for Slipper to stay away from the chamber until sexual harassment charges were resolved as well.
As Deputy Speaker, Burke was deprived of her deliberative vote, being able only to vote in the case of a tie. On 9 October 2012, Peter Slipper resigned as Speaker of the House. Later that evening, Burke was nominated and elected the new Speaker of the House of Representatives unopposed.
Retirement from politics
On 16 December 2015, Burke announced that she would not re-contest her seat at the next Australian federal election.
She successfully defended her seat in the 2010 federal election.
She has been a member of the Australian Labor Party and a member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the Division of Chisholm, Victoria.